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ReviewBurkholderia cepacia Complex Bacteria: a Feared Contamination Risk in Water-Based Pharmaceutical ProductsBurkholderia cepacia (formerly Pseudomonas cepacia) was once thought to be a single bacterial species but has expanded to the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc), comprising 24 closely related opportunistic pathogenic species....
ReviewCaseum: a Niche for Mycobacterium tuberculosis Drug-Tolerant PersistersCaseum, the central necrotic material of tuberculous lesions, is a reservoir of drug-recalcitrant persisting mycobacteria. Caseum is found in closed nodules and in open cavities connecting with an airway. Several commonly accepted characteristics of caseum were established during the preantibiotic era, when autopsies of deceased tuberculosis (TB) patients were common but methodologies were limited. These pioneering studies generated...
ReviewImported Malaria in Countries where Malaria Is Not Endemic: a Comparison of Semi-immune and Nonimmune TravelersThe continuous increase in long-distance travel and recent large migratory movements have changed the epidemiological characteristics of imported malaria in countries where malaria is not endemic (here termed non-malaria-endemic countries). While malaria was primarily imported to nonendemic countries by returning travelers, the proportion of immigrants from malaria-endemic regions and travelers visiting friends and relatives (VFRs) in...
ReviewHuman MelioidosisThe causative agent of melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei, a tier 1 select agent, is endemic in Southeast Asia and northern Australia, with increased incidence associated with high levels of rainfall. Increasing reports of this condition have occurred worldwide, with estimates of up to 165,000 cases and 89,000 deaths per year. The ecological niche of the organism...
ReviewMumps: an Update on Outbreaks, Vaccine Efficacy, and Genomic DiversityMumps is an acute viral infection characterized by inflammation of the parotid and other salivary glands. Persons with mumps are infectious from 2 days before through 5 days after parotitis onset, and transmission is through respiratory droplets. Despite the success of mumps vaccination programs in the United States and parts of Europe, a recent increase in outbreaks of mumps virus infections among fully vaccinated populations has been...
ReviewConsolidation of Clinical Microbiology Laboratories and Introduction of Transformative TechnologiesClinical microbiology is experiencing revolutionary advances in the deployment of molecular, genome sequencing-based, and mass spectrometry-driven detection, identification, and characterization assays. Laboratory automation and the linkage of information systems for big(ger) data management, including artificial intelligence (AI) approaches, also are being introduced. The initial optimism associated with these developments has now...
ReviewEpidemiology of β-Lactamase-Producing Pathogensβ-Lactam antibiotics have been widely used as therapeutic agents for the past 70 years, resulting in emergence of an abundance of β-lactam-inactivating β-lactamases. Although penicillinases in Staphylococcus aureus challenged the initial uses of penicillin, β-lactamases are most important in Gram-negative bacteria, particularly in enteric and nonfermentative pathogens...
ReviewHepatitis B Virus: Advances in Prevention, Diagnosis, and TherapyCurrently, despite the use of a preventive vaccine for several decades as well as the use of effective and well-tolerated viral suppressive medications since 1998, approximately 250 million people remain infected with the virus that causes hepatitis B worldwide. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) are the leading causes of liver cancer and overall mortality globally, surpassing malaria and tuberculosis. Linkage to care...
ReviewImmunomodulatory Strategies in Herpes Simplex Virus EncephalitisHerpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) can be responsible for life-threatening HSV encephalitis (HSE). The mortality rate of patients with HSE who do not receive antiviral treatment is 70%, with most survivors suffering from permanent neurological sequelae. The use of intravenous acyclovir together with improved diagnostic technologies such as PCR and magnetic resonance imaging has resulted in a reduction in the mortality rate to close to 20%....
ReviewEmerging Tick-Borne DiseasesIncreases in tick-borne disease prevalence and transmission are important public health issues. Efforts to control these emerging diseases are frustrated by the struggle to control tick populations and to detect and treat infections caused by the pathogens that they transmit. This review covers tick-borne infectious diseases of nonrickettsial bacterial, parasitic, and viral origins.